Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Dad's 5k PR and Other Stuff

March 11-17

Swim: 4640yds, 2 swims

Bike: 1:25, 1 ride

Run: 47 miles, 6 runs

Total: 8:23, 9 workouts

It was a
crazy week, but I didn’t get much training done. Hey, you’re only young once—may
as well enjoy it while you can. I love training, but if I had to pick between
going to swim at 6am, or sleep in, lay out on the beach all day, and stay out
til midnight (so late, I know)…with
that said, it was my highest run mileage week in quite some time!

My Friend from Cocoa Beach

Well,
Monday I was enjoying my last day at the beach. We were at Cocoa Beach, and I
actually enjoyed it more that Daytona Beach—it was warmer, and it seemed like a
more relaxing place. Monday was also the first day of break that I felt like I
could actually relax, and didn’t have to focus on racing, homework, or anything
else. Tuesday, dad and I made the trip home to end our spring break adventure.
I still managed to get my track workout in at Middle Tennessee State
University!

Woohoo! College Basketball!

Thursday I
went to the Nebraska and Purdue tournament game with my friend Matt. He is a
huge Purdue fan, but as an Indiana fan, I had
to root for Nebraska. Following the game we went to Joliet for a Thousand Foot
Krutch concert. I forgot how good TFK is, and they put on an awesome show! I
know, it sounds like I was having fun all day—which I was—but, I still did my
tempo run in the morning. AND I swam…which may or may not have been my first
day in the pool in a while.

Somehow we're still friends after all these years.

Finally,
and most important, Sunday was my favorite day of spring break. Dad and I went
to run a 5k, and I got to pace him through to a new PR. He had run 29:15
(9:24/mile) in August, and I had been bugging him to run another one sometime
soon. He finally caved in and agreed to run a 5k on St Patrick’s Day. He swore
before the race that he would run 27:00-28:00 and that is the fastest he could
run. I have been watching his workouts and I knew he was 25:00-26:00 shape, but
I let him pick the pace. Our first mile was 8:35, and dad was feeling good. I
wanted him to pick it up just a little bit, but he said no. The course was an
out and back. When we got to the turnaround I told dad we needed to pick it up
a little bit. He said “k” and tucked in behind me to let me block the wind. Our
2nd mile was 8:31. At this pace, I knew it was going to be a PR, but
I wanted him to keep on pushing. When we had about 1200 m left I told dad we
were going to try and pick it up. I noticed that he kept running farther and
farther to the left, so I said, “run a straight line—why run more distance than
you have to?” And dad replied with, “I’m running with my eyes closed so I can’t
see how far I have left to go!” It took everything I had to not laugh at him.
Our 3rd mile was 8:12! The last 0.1 was :47 for a total of 26:05
(8:24/mile)! It was definitely a great day, and a confidence booster going into
the Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon on April 6. I cannot wait to see how his
first half marathon goes!

He looks fine 10 minutes after the 5k--we're running harder next time!